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John Carmichal
|history= Johnnie G. Carmichal was born to parents of moderate income on May 16th of 1910. This is only relevant because that week, Halley's Comet was passing closer to earth than it had in centuries. So close in fact that its tail brushed the earth's atmosphere, releasing various things into the invironment. Scientists at the time assured the public that they had nothing to worry about, because the comet would only release small amounts of cynagen to the atmosphere. What was not released to the public were a few of the other things that came with it. One such compound known only as "Element X" was released, and may have been the cause of young Johnnie's abilities. No one knows for sure, and now, 103 years later, it probably doesn't even matter in the grand scheme of things. During the Great Depression, like most people, John struggled with his family to make ends meet. His powers hadn't manifested yet, so he did what most everyone did. Whatever he could to stave off starving. By the recovery in the 1930s, he was just another tough street kid, who understood how the world worked in the rougher neighborhoods of the big apple. When the world went to war in 1939, he joined the Army in anticipation of the coming conflict, even though the United States wasn't involved, and didn't actually want to be. He was flagged early during training with above average intelligence, and ability to speak French, something he picked up when he was in his early 20s to woo a french immigrant girl he was sweet on. Because of his high test scores, he was pushed through to officer training from enlisted training, and assigned to army intelligence. In 1941, the USA entered WWII, officially, and John was assigned to the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), and sent to the UK to begin operations. He was in London during one of the many bombing raids perpetrated by the Luftwaffe, and it is during this time, he first manifested one of his powers. While running for cover during the bombing, he stopped to rescue a child who was standing, alone, and frightened next to a wall of a previously bombed out building. The wall began to topple, and he rushed in to whisk the child off to safety. The child was rescued, but John did not escape the tumbling brick and mortar. His body instinctively phased insubstantial as he was buried in the rubble, but the mental shock of it was too much, and he passed out, only to come to at the edge of the pile of rubble, unscathed. For the next several weeks, on his free time, whenever he could slip away, he practiced with this ability eventually managing to gain almost full control over it, allowing him to phase through solid objects, up to and including phasing the vehicle he was driving. Afraid he would be arrested, and put in some lab for study, he kept his ability a secret from his superiors and everyone else, and continued on with his duties as if nothing was out of sorts. Later during a mission in France, while working with the French Resistance, yet another of his abilities manifested, and once more due to a desperate situation. He, and the resistance members had been spotted, and were being pursued by SS soldiers, and Gestapo, and John and a resistance member were cornered in a blind alleyway. He couldn't use his phasing power to escape without giving up his secret, but knew if he didn't they would be captured. He took his companion's hand, preparing to walk them both through a wall at the rear of the alleyway, when a spotlight fell over them both. He froze in place for a moment, afraid bullets would come flying...but nothing happened, other than that fog seeming to form from nowhere had surrounded the area suddenly. Curious, he stayed where he was, indicating to his partner to remain silent, and while the two stood there, several guards walked within feet of them, searching for, but not finding them. Eventually the pursuers moved on to continue their search elsewhere, and he and his companion quietly escaped the way they had entered. Thereafter, he experimented with this ability as well, often in front of a mirror, in order to confirm that he had, in fact turned invisible. For the rest of the war, he discreetly used his abilities to gather intelligence for the Allies, and perform acts of sabotage on behalf of the war effort. He gained a reputation for being a man who could get in, get out, and do it quietly, eventually earning the nickname "The Ghost" amongst his colleagues. By the end of the war, he had taken part in several covert operations of the OSS, as well as been involved in various actions by the French Resistance, and even a few raids by the Maquis. He was offered a position in the OSS after the war, but by then, he was battle-weary, and did not like the way the military worked. He was too independent to follow orders blindly, and had, upon returning home met a girl with whom he had fallen in love. He was honorably discharged, and married Rosanne "Rosie" O'Leary almost immediately following his discharge. Life for he and Rosie was not easy after the war, following an incident he had blundered into between a federal agent, and a criminal, during which he mistakenly attacked, and injured the agent. He had been trying to get a job with the FBI, using his OSS contacts, and experience, but this incident ruined any chance he had of joining the agency. He was forced once again to take odd jobs in order to support himself, and his wife, at one point working as a bus-boy/dishwasher at the diner his wife was employed at as a waitress. It was here that he met his mentor, and future partner Dash Feldon, who was an aging private investigator, and saw potential in 35 year old John Carmichal. Dash taught him the ropes of detective work, made him a partner in his detective agency, and finally gifted John his stake in the agency when he retired in 1947. Private Detective work didn't pay a lot, but it was enough for John, and wife Rosie to live modestly in a tenement apartment in a bad part of town. This didn't seem to bother them, they were happy. John had his job as a gumshoe, and Rosie waited tables at the Diner a few blocks from home. In 1949 everything changed, and not for the best. A burgler broke into their apartment one night while John was working a case, robbed the place, and raped, and murdered Rosie. Her loss, and the circumstances of her death were a stunning blow to John, who felt guilty for having had to leave her home alone that night, but also because he knew he had the power to make a difference, as many 'black masks' had begun doing in the 1940s with more and more frequency. He fell into a deep dark hole of depression for a time, drowning his loss in alcohol, and bar brawls, until one night something just clicked, and he decided he should stand up, and start making a difference as well. Donning a mask, and using stolen technology from a rather unknown super-villain he'd come across on a case, John Carmichal became The Silver Ghost. (or so the newspapers called him) The Silver Ghost became somewhat well known for breaking up various mob rackets, from gambling dens, to brothels, from smuggling rings, to low level thuggery all around the poorer neighborhoods of New York City, until 1951, when just as suddenly as he had appeared, he simply disappeared again. John Carmichal wasn't even missed until his rent for both apartment and office had gone unpaid for a month, and those who knew him just assumed he had drunk himself to death and died in some gutter somewhere. The Silver Ghost wasn't particularly missed either, as so many other heroes were still active that the world just went on with life. Neither were seen or heard from again until 2013, when a man calling himself John Carmichal showed up on the streets of New York City once more. }} Category:Character Category:OC Category:Hero Category:Unregistered